Ergebnisse und Fahrerstimmen zum MXGP Valkenswaard
Am vergangenen Wochenende war Valkenswaard fest in der Hand der KTM Werkspiloten. Allen voran MX2 Fahrer und Rückkehrer Jorge Prado und MXGP Pilot Antonio Cairoli.
Prado der vor einer Woche den GP in Großbritannien verletzungsbedingt auslassen musste, meldete sich am Samstag zurück. Der Spanier der nach eigenen Aussagen noch nicht 100%ig fit ist, holte er sich am Samstag den Sieg im Qualifikationsrennen.
Auch in den Wertungsläufen war er über jeden Zweifel erhaben und fuhr jeseweils ungefährdetee Start/Ziel Sieg ein. Kontrahent und Meisterschaftsführender Thomas Kjer Olsen tat sich schwer dem angeschlagenen Prado zu folgen. Das 3-2 Ergebnis reichte dem Dänen zum zweiten Platz in der Tageswertung, vor Kemea Yamaha Pilot Jago Geerts.
Prado verkürzte so seinen Rückstand auf Olsen auf 36 Punkte und rangiert nun in der Meisterschaft auf Platz 4. Hier halten Henry Jacobi und Calvin Vlaanderen die Plätze 3 und 4.
In der MXGP Klasse warteten die Fans auf einen erneuten Zweikampf zwischen Antonio Cairoli und HRC Pilot, Tim Gajser. Cairoli profitierte im ersten Lauf von vom Sturzpech des bis dahin Führenden Max Anstie. Nach dessen Abflug holte sich der Italiener mit dem Sieg die ersten 25 Punkte. Im zweiten Lauf fuhr er einen sicheren Start – Ziel Sieg heim und sammelte weitere 25 wertvolle Punkte für die Meisterschaft.
Fahrerstimmen:
Team Red Bull-KTM-DeCarli
Tony Cairoli: “A very nice weekend. I didn’t really feel great all week. On hard-pack I was OK but this small shoulder problem in the sand made things difficult. Anyway, looking at the bigger picture we took two wins and you cannot get more than fifty points. So it was a great weekend. Also no crashes, which was important on this track where we saw a lot of people going down. It will be a busy week now with my home GP. I hope to see a lot of public at Arco and KTM again on top of the podium.”
Jorge Prado: “It was a great weekend. Four days ago I could not think about riding. I had too much pain and I didn’t really know how my body was reacting. So I had to rest these weeks and take it easy. I wasn’t happy at all to miss Matterley Basin. I don’t think we really expected these results here this weekend. The goal had been just to ride and get some points! On Saturday I had some issues and didn’t feel comfortable but today I woke up and I felt better.
So to win both motos was great and to get some points back. I took some painkillers today just to be safe but everything that we did for this weekend turned out well. It is a long championship and my rivals are riding well. We just need to keep going, keep focussed, limit the mistakes and keep trying to improve.”
Red Bull-KTM Racing Team
Tom Vialle: “A solid weekend overall as I finished tied on points with ninth. I had a good feeling on the bike and in the sand. In moto 1 I had a good start but got a little tired towards the end and lost a couple of positions. It was my first time on this track. The same scenario in the second moto and the mistake was a shame. I was almost attacking [Henry] Jacobi but then after the crash I had to find my rhythm again, Overall I was happy with my speed and my first time at Valkenswaard. I learned a lot today.“
Team HRC-Gariboldi Racing-HSF Logistics
Tim Gajser: I’m quite happy to finish on the podium again. I’m just a little bit disappointed with the first race. I made a mistake and finished seventh. I’m trying to learn as much as possible from these mistakes so I don’t make them in the future. The second race was good though. My speed was good, my start was good. We were really close to the front and the pace was high. So overall I’m quite happy and I’m really looking forward to next weekend in Arco di Trento. A huge thanks to everyone in the team. They did an amazing job with the bike and I felt comfortable on it in both the motos.
Calvin Vlaanderen: „It was two really long tough motos today, to be honest. Obviously having 14th place gate pick didn’t make things easy for me. In the first race I didn’t have the best start. The first few laps I was carving through the field, making passes but I knew it was going to be a long race so I tried to save my energy to push at the end. That’s what I did and I got up to fourth, which I was quite happy with. In the second moto I got a better start. Around sixth or seventh before making a couple of passes to get into fifth.
I stayed there for a lot of the moto before I could finally make a move to finish fourth. This gave me four-four results for fourth overall, my third time in a row and the second time this season I had the same points as the person in third. It’s disappointing to be so close and miss out on the podium but at the same time its continued motivation because I know I need to be better than fourth.“
Brian Bogers: „The first race went pretty well. I had an okay start, around 11th and I saw that on the pit board so I really tried to push to get inside the top 10. Maybe I pushed too hard to make that happen, and I ended up riding too tight and I couldn’t push anymore. I finished 12th and I was very happy with that, and it was a nice to see my work paying off. In the second race, my start wasn’t so good and I got hit by another rider but I still managed to get up to 14th place. Unfortunately though, the impact with the other rider caused some damage to the bike and I wasn’t able to finish the race. It’s a shame but this is motocross and I must put it behind me and move onto Trentino next weekend. „
KRT
Clément Desalle: “I’m really happy as it’s not my favourite track and I was not expecting such a good result as I couldn’t train as I like during the week after my crash in Great Britain; I had pain in my hand and in my neck. Yesterday I just took it step-by-step and did what I needed to do. Today was different; I got good starts, was feeling good and could come back to second position during the first race. But I hurt my knee during this race; between the motos we had to work with the physio and doctor so I was able to get another top five finish which gave me a first podium this season. We are now third in the championship and I’m really confident for the rest of the season after this podium.”
RockstarEnergy-Nestaan-Husqvarna-JM Racing
Thomas Kjer-Olsen: “We picked up some good points here in The Netherlands and that’s what matters the most for me. Knowing the track would be rough, my goal coming into the weekend was to remain safe and do my best to maintain the lead in the championship. In the first moto I had a decent pace and crossed the line in second. Then in the final moto I got passed by Geerts while running second again, just before the chequered flag, so I ended up third for second overall. This season will be very long and my goal is to remain consistent until the end of it.”
Jed Beaton: “I had an OK GP and felt good on my bike. In the opening moto my pace was good so I managed to secure a top-10 result. Then in the second moto, I pushed a bit more than I needed to early on and ended up getting a little fatigued. The injury I picked up during the pre-season hasn’t allowed me to spend as much time as I would have liked on a bike. Around a tough track like Valkenswaard it is always important to be on top of your game. At the moment I’m taking one step at a time and I’m trying to get better every time I race.”
KEMEA-Yamaha Racing Team
Jago Geerts: „I was really angry after the first race. I didn’t go to plan. Bad start, a crash, no rhythm. The second race was completely different. Nice start, good pace from the beginning till the end and attacking all the time. Even at the end. I really wanted to catch Olsen. It was all or nothing on the last jump. It was all. Second place and third overall. To be honest: I didn’t expect to be on the box after that terrible first race. This feels good. My first podium of 2019, also the first for our team. This is a boost for everybody in our team.“
Ben Watson: „I’m quite happy about my riding, but my starts let me down today. If you want to fight for the podium, you need to be inside the top five in the first turn. The track is really fast. There is a minimal difference between the top riders, so it’s very difficult to make up ground. I know I have the speed of the top guys, I’m only lacking good starts. The cause of those poor starts? If I knew, I would solve it immediately. Everybody in the team is working really hard. Hopefully we will find the solution soon.“
F&H Racing Team
Henry Jacobi: “I had a super first race as I did the entire moto in third position; at one stage I even made an attack for the second position but I found some lappers in my way. But a podium here was already a good result. I got another good start in the second race. Was second at first but got pushed to third and then I gave everything to keep that position but during the last five minutes I lost my rhythm and a few positions. I missed the podium by just one point but I’m happy to gain some good points for the championship, especially on a sandy track.”
Adam Sterry: “It wasn’t the weekend I was hoping for. I found it tough; maybe it was because the track was dry and so fast but I never felt comfortable. My riding was good again though crashes on the first laps made the day hard work. We improved on starts this weekend though, so I will aim to put it all together next weekend in Italy.”
RockstarEnergy-Husqvarna-IceOne Racing Team
Arminas Jasikonis: “For me it was a really good weekend here in The Netherlands. I felt on top form and kept improving my pace every time I was on track. If my starts were a little bit better in the final motos, my overall result would have been even better. Not getting the best of starts in either race, I had to fight my way through the pack. Despite not getting great starts I ended up sharing the exact same points as third placed Tim Gajser and that gives me the extra motivation to continue pushing hard. I am really happy with where I’m at right now and I am looking forward to the next GP in Italy.”
Pauls Jonass: “I’m happy with the progress we’re making. My results might not look that good yet, but honestly I feel I am making some great progress in each race. There is a large group of racers battling for the top six and I feel I am getting closer and closer to them. My speed is quite good considering I have limited timed on the bike, but I am still lacking the fitness to sustain the full motos. I know the track at Valkenswaard quite well and for this weekend my goal was to continue improving without taking any unnecessary risks. My speed in the opening part of the second moto was very positive. There is still a lot of work to do and I’m looking forward to the one-month break after the following GP in Italy.”
WILVO-Yamaha MXGP Team
Gautier Paulin: „We had a tough Saturday, but we had some things to work on going into Sunday. We regrouped well and had a good meeting to discuss what needs to happen for Sunday. We started well in warm-up, but I made mistakes in section four and that cost me second place in the first race. In the second race I had a bad start and then, from that bad start, I got a bit frustrated, then I made some mistakes and on a track like Valkenswaard there is no room for mistakes. I missed my line and was full throttle, so I just lost control of the bike and then it was totally damaged. I did my best to finish the race. Back to work tomorrow and I will be back in Arco di Trento.“
Arnaud Tonus: „It was a tough pill to swallow this weekend, probably one of the toughest I have experienced. Thirteenth and twentieth in the two motos, but I’m glad I am through this and healthy. Thanks to all of the Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha MXGP team for so much support on these tough days. Looking forward to Arco next weekend!“
114 Motorsports
Mitch Evans: „Tough weekend at Valkenswaard, after a crash in the qualifying race on Saturday left me with burns and two stitches in my elbow. Riding was painful, but I did what I could with thirtieth gate pick. Moto one I made my way up through the field to thirteenth until I had to make a pit stop to repair a mechanical issue, which meant I unfortunately finished thirty-seventh. Moto two I was able to ride well and move myself into tenth. Considering that Saturday crash and my injuries, I was happy with my riding in moto two. Looking forward to recovering for the next race in Italy! Thanks to my Honda 114 Motorsports team!“
Zachary Pichon: „It has been a tough weekend, struggled with back problems since this winter and this weekend it was too painful. I was able to make quite a good qualifying day, but today was tough. I was not able to finish my races due to so much pain, but at least the riding and feeling on the bike was pretty good. Now it is time to make some exams and see what we can do about these problems.“
Ergebnisse
MX2
1. Prado, Jorge (ESP, KTM), 50 Punkte
2. Olsen, Thomas Kjer (DEN, HUS), 42
3. Geerts, Jago (BEL, YAM), 36
4. Vlaanderen, Calvin (NED, HON), 36
5. Jacobi, Henry (GER, KAW), 35
6. Watson, Ben (GBR, YAM), 32
7. Forato, Alberto (ITA, HUS), 23
8. Sterry, Adam (GBR, KAW), 22
9. Renaux, Maxime (FRA, YAM), 21
10. Vialle, Tom (FRA, KTM), 21
11. Vaessen, Bas (NED, KTM), 19
12. Beaton, Jed (AUS, HUS), 17
13. Pootjes, Davy (NED, HUS), 15
14. Van Doninck, Brent (BEL, HON), 13
15. Evans, Mitchell (AUS, HON), 11
16. Cervellin, Michele (ITA, YAM), 11
17. Boisrame, Mathys (FRA, HON), 10
18. Sanayei, Darian (USA, KAW), 9
19. Östlund, Alvin (SWE, HUS), 9
20. Zanotti, Andrea (SMR, KTM), 4
MX1
1. Cairoli, Antonio (ITA, KTM), 50 Punkte
2. Desalle, Clement (BEL, KAW), 38
3. Gajser, Tim (SLO, HON), 36
4. Van Horebeek, Jeremy (BEL, HON), 36
5. Jasikonis, Arminas (LTU, HUS), 36
6. Lieber, Julien (BEL, KAW), 29
7. Seewer, Jeremy (SUI, YAM), 28
8. Paulin, Gautier (FRA, YAM), 28
9. Simpson, Shaun (GBR, KTM), 25
10. Anstie, Max (GBR, KTM), 17
11. Jonass, Pauls (LAT, HUS), 17
12. Coldenhoff, Glenn (NED, KTM), 15
13. Monticelli, Ivo (ITA, KTM), 13
14. Kullas, Harri (EST, HON), 12
15. Leok, Tanel (EST, HUS), 11
16. Tixier, Jordi (FRA, KTM), 11
17. Lupino, Alessandro (ITA, KAW), 9
18. Bogers, Brian (NED, HON), 9
19. Tonus, Arnaud (SUI, YAM), 8
20. Butron, Jose (ESP, KTM), 5
…..
29. Koch, Tom (GER, KTM)